


Five times she said no and one time she said yes

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Concern, Dani worries, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Malcolm Bright, Hurt/Comfort, Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug, Malcolm Bright Whump, Malcolm just keeps getting hurt, Protective! Dani, Stress, Whump, worried dani
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 15:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20910236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: Five times Dani went all "no no no" being worried for Malcolm, protecting him, angry on his behalf. And one time... Where there were no "nos".Dani and Malcolm friendship, lots of hurt Malcolm, a touch of fluff.





	Five times she said no and one time she said yes

1.

The first time it happened they barely knew each other. Bright had been working with them for a couple of days, they didn’t know about his father yet, they only knew that he was a very strange man with good ideas to narrow down suspects. Dani did feel that there was something about him, so many more layers that he wasn’t showing.

And so, after giving his profile he apparently fell asleep in the conference room... Odd place to do so, but after being nearly exploded Dani decided not to question it. Until she heard him moaning and thrashing and then there was a scream and she was being tackled to the floor.

Bright was trying to escape from something, fight something and she was trying to contain him because he was going to hurt himself if this continued, him or someone else that would have no issue in fighting back, going back against someone who wasn’t awake yet. That’s when she noticed it.

And there were a million guns surrounding them, and they were very ready to shoot at Bright.

And they had reason, didn’t they? This could count as assault on a police officer, he could have been carrying a weapon, he could want to kill her, nobody would question it, nobody would think twice... But the poor guy was just having a nightmare, and somehow she had to convince everyone to put their guns away, while trying to contain the still struggling Bright....

“No no no nooo”

Please no, please, please, no.

“He’s asleep. He’s asleep.”

Most of the officers still had their guns up and are looking suspicious, but it seemed that her pleading had helped at least press pause in their shooting. She was a no non sense kind of person, who spoke with a commanding voice, loud and clear, making each word stand on its own... For her to be speaking so quick and high, it was enough to give them pause.

And thank goodness.

As she held on to the newly awoke but still out of it Bright, Dani wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t been there. If they would have a Bright shaped stain on the floor, blood drenching that impeccable suit.

No.

Better not to know.

2.

The second was after that snake bite.

He’d been fine, he said, and told her that the suspect had left.

But she had been frozen in place. There was a damn snake on his wrist and they’d just been dealing with deadly snakes. Like a day before. Snakes that kill you if they bite you. But this was a different snake, right? It had to be. This was smaller, and hell, it may even not be poisonous.

Although the way Bright collapsed suggested otherwise.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Her mind kept going over the “no no noooooo”s as she ran to the fallen man and frantically called an ambulance. How did he keep getting hurt? How would this affect him, he was barely holding on? Did snake poison affect more or quicker people who eat little and sleep even less? What if the ambulance didn’t make it on time? What if this was there was nothing they could do?

She tried to keep him awake and looking ant her, told him that he would be fine (this was more herself than him, really, she needed to say it so she could believe it) and to breathe. But his eyes were starting to close....

“No no no nooooo”

How could this be happening? How could he be almost dying again? Where the hell was that ambulance? Why were there no what to do in case of poisonous snake bites protocols in first aid classes?

Unable to just stay still there and do nothing, she just took him in her arms (gently and crefully, but she was quite sure that moving someone was not a problem for this kind of issue) and went towards where she imagined the ambulance would come from.

Fuck. Shit. No, no, noooooo

They were just starting to get to know Bright better, how helpful he was, all the layers of weird (he had snakes as a kid?) and just... He was becoming part of them, and he seemed really excited about that like this was the only good thing that had happened to him in a very long time.

And some part of Dani wanted to help even more. T o make him happy, real happy, get him some friendship he so clearly needed (and deserved) (she couldn’t even begin to imagine how it must feel to have everyone suspect because of what your father did) (the isolation, God, no wonder he got some snakes to keep him company). They couldn’t lose him like this, so soon, when they still had so much bad guys to catch, puzzles to solve....

She looked at the unconscious man in her arms and whispered:

“No.”

3+

“I am gonna need you to stop.” Dani said, firm, looking at the idiotic police officer in front of her.

The same man that had berated them for the last 20 minutes, and was nearly sending Bright into a panic attack, telling the world that everything that he had done was illegal and thatnot only he would in jail but everyone that had worked with him, Gil, her... And Bright had barely slept at all that week (for some reason, he’d begun to confide in her and Dani was kind of glad he had someone to talk to that wouldn’t pester him like some others) and he was on edge. He didn’t need this, and she was afraid that this would break him further.

“Not another word. Stop.”

“You have to let me finish.”

“Dani....”

“No, no, no, Bright. This is not okay.”

“Detective Powell...”

“NO.”

“We are not having this conversation now. You want to keep going at us, you make an appointment, write an e-mail, speak to our supervisor, whatever it is you want. But not now. Not right now.”

“Detective -”

“No. No.”

She looked at Bright and nodded.

“Gil, I’m taking him home.”

“Dani, there’s no need....”

“No. You come with me, we are not needed her.”

There was a clear defiance in her eyes.

You think I’m going to let my friend be hurt like that? NO.

No way in hell.

4+

“Bright? Gil sent me to grab you. He’s worried that you weren’t answering your texts but couldn’t get away from the scene....”

There was a faint scent of blood on the apartment and Dani drew her gun. This couldn’t be happening, right? This wasn’t happening.

Only it was. Bright was thrown on the floor, blood on his head and face. There was a big gash on his forehead that had bled a lot. Maybe he’d hurt himself while trapped in a bad dream, maybe he had a bad moment and hurt himself... Who knew.

She got a knelt and turned him around, cradling his face in her lap, tapping his cheeks...

“Bright?”

They’d actually become great friends with time, and they trusted each other. They were very different people and dealt sometimes in opposite ways, but they knew that they could count on each other, that they were there for each other. She liked his self deprecating humour. He liked her ability to see things for what they are. They knew how each other was, and appreciated them. But she’d been worried.

I mean, they all worried about Bright to a bigger or smaller extent (maybe not JT, though) but lately he’d been more on edge than edge, swaying more, paler. And Dani had been worried, of course she had, but what was she to do? She was just a co-worker, she wasn’t really allowed in his life. And besides, she knew that he was looking after himself and that there was probably no strategy he hadn’t tried already.

All she could offer was some company, someone to be there to make sure that he didn’t hurt himself accidentally, someone to reassure him that his dad or any of the bad guys he’d put behind bars couldn’t come, and if they did, she would be there to defend him. And all this was probably a bit creepy. “I’ll watch you while you sleep so I can make sure you don’t hurt yourself”? Ultra creepy.

So she tried to put her worry aside and let him be, hoping for the best. But apparently, today was not the day the best was going to happen. Quite the contrary.

Should she call an ambulance?

She knew how much he hated hospitals. She knew that they could give him sedatives to minimize the pain and that he could get trapped in his own head. She knew that any of the meds he was currently taking could have a bad interaction with whatever they would give him in the hospital. She also knew that she could stitch that gash herself (she’d updated and expanded her medical knowledge, since they had brushes with death apparently every week) and avoid the damned trip there, him hating every second of it...

But how could she know if this was serious? He’d been unconscious when she’d found it was probably too long to be out, right? Too long to be unconscious. But could she know? What was the right thing to do?

Dani’s hands were bloodstained and she was (quite rare for her) at a loss. She kept shaking her head muttering no no nooos...

And then he saw those blue pools, slowly and lazily and look up at her.

“Dani?”

There was only one thing that could be said.

“Yes!”

(He was very grateful that she hadn’t called the ambulance. Also very impressed with her stitching skills. She was a bit suspicious that maybe his compliments were just to be nice, but.. She took it. And then ordered some food and told Gil they weren’t coming and stayed the night. Not caring if it was creepy. What are friends for anyway, right?)

*

5.

“No no no nooo noooooo...”

Bright was giving this guy another one of his very suicidal sounding speeches and she wanted to put an end to it. He was going to get shot, and it wouldn’t be the first time, and then he would have to stay for a long time in the hospital and he would get more depressed, would only have his father’s words in his head going round and round... And that if they were lucky and the wound wasn’t fatal.

But the thing was that he was distracting the bad guy, while he was listening to Bright as he offered himself to be killed he wasn’t killing other people, and they were getting time to locate and take down this man’s sniper friend, who had already shot three officers that had come against him.

“You need to kill, I know.” Bright was saying. “But it doesn’t need to be her. Or her daughter. They were just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. But I came for you, like them. I’m the police.”

“Why do you want me to kill you?”

“Because I understand what it is, what you are living with. And I know that if you shoot me in the chest and watch me fall, you won’t have to shoot them, or anyone else for that matter. It’s okay. I’ve made peace with it.”

“No no no noooooo”

How could he say things like that? Damn it, Dani had lost at least ten years of her life trying to keep this guy alive. The man was aiming his shotgun at Bright (no no nooo nooooo) and he was closing his eyes (no, you idiot, NO!) and Dani was ready to shoot even if there was no confirmation fuck NO please COME ON nooo nooooooooo

“Now!” Gil’s voice said and without even processing it Dani shot the guy, just as he was about the squeeze the damn trigger.

Bright fell on the floor.

She dropped her gun.

They had almost lost him, again.

The nos kept running through her head, even if the danger had passed. How could he keep doing this? Just no.

Just no.

\+ 1

“NO!”

She looked at Bright, eyes wide as saucers, not believing her luck.

He just smiled.

“These tickets were sold out a million years ago! How did you know?”

“My mom has... connections. I had to endure a bunch of terrible galas and will have to bow to her whims for a bit, but I got them. I know how much you love this band, I had to get it.”

“This is so awesome, you’re.. Wow, Bright. Wow.”

“Just a thank you for all the times you’ve saved my ass. For not calling the ambulance every time. For caring.”

“I cannot believe this! How did you even know I like them”

“You’ve hummed their songs once or twice.”

“And you remembered? You maybe creepy and unstable, but you, Sir, are a great guy in general.”

“Tell me how it was! I’m really hoping they’ll put some new album stuff, is really good.”

“What do you mean? You’re coming with me.”

“No! Dani you should go with a friend, a date, something. Don’t waste on me.”

“Bright....”

“No, Dani... No.”

“Yes!”

“No.”

“Malcoclm Bright you are coming with me to this concert, yes or yes?”

“... Ok, yes!”

They smiled, and for a moment, all those brushes with death, all that worry and fear, all those nos were forgotten.

There was only yes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :) 
> 
> You know you want to comment!!


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